Field of Invention
The disclosed subject matter is in the field of helmets and other protective headgear.
Background of the Invention
Helmets and other protective headgear (collectively “helmets”) exist to shield or otherwise insulate a wearer's head from forceful impacts during hazardous activities. Structurally, helmets are typically defined by a hard shell that is internally lined with soft, shock-absorbing materials. In a typical mode of use, a wearer positions his or her head inside of the shell so that the head is surrounded by the shock-absorbing material. The hard outer shell of the helmet is intended to deflect the blunt force of an impact while the shock-absorbing material is intended to absorb any remaining forces associated with the impact whereby the head is protected.
Certainly, modern helmets have been satisfactory for protecting the external and skeletal components of the heads of helmet wearers during helmet impacts. However, it has been recently suggested that the internal or non-structural components of the wearer's head are not adequately protected by helmets. The thought is that the abrupt acceleration or deceleration of a wearer's head during an impact causes the brain and other internal organs of the wearer's head to slosh to-and-fro within the brain cavity of the head and sustain trauma via impacting the skeletal or structural components of the wearer's head. Such brain trauma is known to result in concussions of the wearer. Concussions can be particularly problematic during activities, like American football, in which a wearer is continuously subjected to abrupt accelerating/decelerating helmet impacts because chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) (a degenerative disease) may ultimately afflict the helmet wearer.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for improvements to helmets. Specifically, a need exists for helmets that both (a) protect the wearer's head structure from the blunt force of an impact and (b) smoothly to decelerate the force of an impact so that the non-structural components of a head are protected during the impact. In view of this need, many modifications to helmets have been proposed but ultimately fail to meet the stated need. U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,681 (issued Mar. 10, 1998) by Sykes discloses a “Shock-absorbing helmet cover.” Sykes' disclosed improvement is simply an extra protective shell around the helmet which is aesthetically unappealing and does very little to decelerate helmet impacts. Unattractive helmets are problematic because participants in certain activities, like American Football, are image conscious and will not wear an ugly helmet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,471 (issued Dec. 29, 1981) by Lovell discloses a “protective helmet” with an outer shell that is slidably connected to the helmet so that the outer shell and the helmet move forward or backward relative to one another during impacts. The relative movements between the outer shell and helmet of Lovell can decelerate head-on impacts, but the outer shell does not adequately protect against side-impacts because the shell can only move forward and backwards relative to the helmet. Thus, a need still exists for improved helmets that are aesthetic and that can decelerate impacts from any direction.